The Future of Second Life is Here?

Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday when i logged into SL for the very first time but surely times flies and the alpha hair and layered clothing are far gone.

The progress with this game that we love so much is always on the go and few days ago, Linden Labs gave another big step.

Couple of days ago, LL introduced 24 brand new SL Mesh Avatars (pictured above). Now we need to start wondering, are newbies really bad looking now or they are much more cool then our avatars that we spend hours dressing and transforming? Everybody that logs into Second Life now days, will have several mesh avatars to pick from the very large selection LL is currently offering.

After exploring the dressing my avatar around with these mesh models i really have to say that the male mesh avatars are way better looking then the female ones. 

This change is clearly showing us that sooner or later all the skins and mesh clothing will be replaced by this kind of avatar system.

In a near future, textured clothing will no longer work and rigged mesh will also fade away because of the needed alpha textures that complements this option. On a side note, if you explore around Marketplace you will find a new category with clothing that only works with classic SL avatars. 

The current fitted mesh made so far is also a option that does not work with these new mesh avatars so what option do we have then? Clothes will need to be made for the different mesh avatars.

Other gadgets like Animation Emotes and Emote HUD's will also stop working with this new system.

But not all are bad news. The mesh hair seems to adapt fine to these new avatars, their shape can be customized to fit your beauty standards and the Advanced Lighting option is better then ever. The details on these newbie mesh avatars are pretty amazing so in the future creators will definitely need to build using this option.

The future is almost here so creators of SL prepare yourself in advance for the big changes that will come very soon. But wait..i have more for you.

 
SL Go is the new cloud based tablet and pc/laptop web viewer from Second Life. The viewer is a full blown version of Second Life and works pretty well on tablets and pcs/laptops.

With SL Go you have the functionalities of a full downloaded SL viewer. You can teleport, build, access your inventory, stream music, voice, walk around, and of course fly! You can also run SL Go via OnLive gaming systems and on your televisions.

You can access SL GO via your android based mobiles and tablets. You will need to sign up for a free OnLive account to access SL Go and pay the 9.99 USD fee for one month of service. You can cancel anytime and there is a 20 minute trial period.

The downside to SL Go is that if you are an iPad or iPhone user, the application is not available. Another potential downside is that the interface is viewer 3 based, so if you are used to a viewer 1 styled interface, you may have to brush up on how to use this interface. Check out SL Go at: https://slgo.onlive.com